Part 1Custom Made for My Wife

The rising starlet posted a photo of a diamond-encrusted car key.

The caption read: "Finally received my third supercar gift. ❤️"

Sharp-eyed netizens immediately recognized it.

It was the serial number 001—a limited-edition custom Bugatti, rumored to have been purchased by Silas Thorne, the youngest tech billionaire in Silicon Valley.

Fans went into a frenzy:

[Is this an engagement gift?!]

[Power couple goals! A beautiful star and a tech king. Silas is so generous.]

I pulled an identical key out of my bag and tossed it onto the desk of the man currently leading a board meeting.

"Did you buy two of these?" I asked.

The man looked at me with a pouting face.

"There’s only one custom-made in the world. And you’re still complaining that the color is too flashy."

* * *

I’m Summer Miller, a mid-tier actress known more for my acting chops than my social media presence.

To promote our new drama, The Dearest, the entire cast was invited to the most popular live-streamed variety show of the year.

The first game segment: call your "dearest person" and invite them to the studio.

This network was notorious for "eating people alive"—they didn't care about privacy. They displayed our contact lists on a giant screen for the audience to choose.

Bella Sterling, who was currently trending due to a leaked "secret romance," was the first to take out her phone.

The name at the top of her list was: "My Love Silas."

The live chat exploded:

[OMFG, it’s really Silas Thorne! My ship is sailing!]

[Our girl did it! Being the girlfriend of the richest man in Silicon Valley... talk about status!]

[Call him! We want to hear his voice! We want to share the luck of the wealthy!]

Bella looked at the chat, blushing. "Don't be so direct, guys. He’s shy."

That sentence was basically a soft launch of her relationship with Silas.

I looked at the screen, which was nearly covered by heart emojis, and frowned.

The Silas Thorne they were talking about was sleeping next to me this morning.

How did he become someone else’s fiancé?

Last week, during a live stream, Bella "accidentally" showed off a flashy car key and gave a vague introduction.

Netizens identified the car immediately and linked her to Silas.

She had left the stream in a hurry, acting like a girl caught in a secret love affair.

Then, a "insider" account called "Branch-and-Knowing" started posting "leaked" interactions between her and Silas from three years ago.

Overnight, that account gained a million followers. I was so annoyed I deleted my own secret alt account.

As for that car—it was my 26th birthday gift from Silas.

I hated how high-profile it was, so it had been sitting in my underground garage for a year.

Maybe it was all a coincidence. Bella never explicitly named Silas.

And since she had to make a call now, she wouldn't play a game that could be easily exposed... right?

I watched the screen, waiting.

My expression was caught by the cameras and misinterpreted by the audience:

[Who’s the girl next to Bella? What’s with that face?]

[That’s Summer Miller. Supposedly a "serious actress," but she can't even hide her jealousy.]

[She’s definitely green with envy that Bella has a billionaire boyfriend. If she’s like this on a live show, imagine how she bullies Bella on set.]

The host saw the traffic spiking and grinned. He walked over to Bella.

"The fans are so excited. Bella, if we make this call, Mr. Thorne won't be angry, will he?"

Bella turned red, looking shy. "He won't. He’s... very gentle."

The chat lost it:

[??? Gentle? Who is she talking about?]

[LMAO, first time I’ve heard the ruthless Silas Thorne described as 'gentle.']

[Girl, you are my queen. I work at Thorne Tech—can you ask him if he’s physically incapable of smiling at meetings?]

Her words were a silent confirmation. The host got even more excited.

"Mr. Thorne is a busy man. Even though Thorne Tech is right next to the studio, he probably doesn't have time to come, right?"

Bella gave the host a playful nudge.

"It’s the weekend, and he usually has board meetings. But if I call... he might find a way."

The production crew knew how to build suspense. They immediately cut to another guest.

Everyone looked envious except for me. The host walked over to me specifically.

"Summer, your contact list is quite interesting too. If we call someone you’d rather we didn't... would you be nervous?"

I held back an eye-roll.

"Nervous? No. But isn't it a privacy violation to show a guest’s contacts without consent?"

The host’s face stiffened for a second. He laughed awkwardly. "It’s for the sake of fairness and reality."

"It seems Summer isn't happy with our arrangement. This makes me even more curious about who we’ll find in her list."

My list was put on the big screen.

Two names at the top caught everyone’s eye.

[Holy sh*t. Sponsor A and Sponsor B?? I thought she was a serious actress? Is she just sleeping her way to the top?]

[The industry is doomed. Even the 'serious' ones have sugar daddies.]

[Don't worry, we have Bella! She is the gold standard!]

[Choose Sponsor A! When Silas Thorne arrives, he should clean up this industry!]

I looked at the "Sponsor A" and "Sponsor B" labels and felt a headache coming on.

I blamed Silas.

When he found out I had my dad’s number saved as "Sponsor Dad," he threw a fit for a whole day.

"Babe, your dad raised you, but I’m responsible for your future. Don't I deserve to be your sponsor too?"

"Babe, I’m not jealous of your dad. But you won't even drive the car I bought you. You’re still driving that old Mercedes."

"Babe, can we at least be on equal footing? Change my contact name."

"Honey? My Love? Hubby?"

Eventually, he settled for "Sponsor B" just to be on the same list as my dad.